the kiss

he takes lip to powdered lip

and breathes - it is enough:

his voice runs chains of desire

that wrap me up and tighten

across brain, muscle, organ:

i his being entire

yet deep within these flickers of caress incarnate under ceaseless layers of greying blazer

and stubborn starches of shirt

embedded tight inside the kernel of the core of self

i can hear echoes of heartbeat, and clutch Illustration by Amy Teh

to yearnings to break his swollen touch

Juliette Bretan is a first year English Literature student at Murray Edwards College